SOVIET ICONS. PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH AND ORGANIZATION OF WORKS

The article deals with the organization of work on the study of Soviet icons – religious artifacts that were massively created by homeworkers in Orthodox regions during the Soviet era. The phenomenon of the Soviet icon was described and conceptualized in a series of works and two books by D.I. Antonov and D.Yu. Doronin in 2022–2023. The first center for the study of these artifacts has become the Center for Visual Studies of the Medieval and Modern Culture of the Russian State University for the Humanities. The presented article analyzes the material uniqueness of Soviet icons and describes the sequence of works aimed at identifying and studying and characterizing those objects. The study plan includes identifying groups of respondents, searching for masters and the memory keepers of the masters; artifact discovery and detection of local traditions; analyzing relevant moderating practices, recording narratives and the video fixation of the master’s work process; restoration, photographic fixation, and the artifact cataloging. The practical recommendations can be applied in organizing various types of regional research: from professional expeditions to the school, student, and volunteer projects. The article is recommended as a practical guide for local historians, museum workers and employees of educational institutions in different regions of Russia, as well as in other countries of the post-Soviet circle, where Orthodox traditions were maintained during the Soviet era.